


The end of the fight

by Leah_Red



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, POV First Person, Pokemon Battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 18:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13417401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leah_Red/pseuds/Leah_Red
Summary: The end of a hot battle between a ghost-type defending trainer and traveling rookie who never expected to get this far.





	The end of the fight

The match was almost over. Even I could see that. I never expected to make it this far, and I don't think my partner did either. My Decidueye circled above the field, his headset nestled in his feathers.

“All right, Coco, get ready. We need to take this guy out before the time limit runs out.” There was a quiet hoot as he acknowledged me. The big timer projected above the match area was less than five minutes; the numbers were flashing red.

On the other side of the field was the defending challenger. She looked just as ready to end this as I was. We were both on our last team member, but her Haunter was in worse shape than Coco. From my perch in the trainers' stand, I could see that her Haunter was so close to fainting that it's headset was slipping through it's ghostly body.

“I think she's going to try to stall for a technical win with the time running out,” I told Coco. “I want you to start readying a Shadow Ball.” I kept an eye on him as he continued to circle around the field. To me, the first faint smokey trails of the ghost-type move were obvious. The Haunter on the ground started to move back and forth across the ground aimlessly, probably sensing the move.

The Shadow Ball stayed in front of Coco as he flew, growing in size. He left a trail of hazy smoke around the sky, making his movement clear. Hopefully, with the next part of this strategy, we wouldn't have to worry about that.

“Okay, Coco. Get to a good height. I want you to try to get that Haunter in your sights and use your speed flying down at them to launch the Shadow Ball.” It was something I tried to save for finishing moves- it too was easy to dodge if you knew it was coming. Coco angled his wing down to start the spiral towards the Haunter. Usually at this point, no matter the move involved, a pokemon would try to hide from a diving Decidueye. But something wasn't sitting right with me. The Haunter was moving faster back and forth, almost seeming to be in two places at once-

“They're trying to use Double Team!” If that Shadow Ball missed, there would be no coming back from the time limit still steadily slipping away. “Now, Coconut!”

He must have heard the urgency in my voice. Instead of trying to circle a few more times for a sure hit, I could see him change his angle for a direct hit from where he was right then- almost directly above the Haunter. The ghost pokemon was nearly invisible at that point, flashing from one point to another.

Coco screeched loud enough to make the earpiece crackle with the volume and I winced, pulling it away. There was a shockwave that I could feel more than hear as he flapped his wings to deliver the Shadow Ball to its target, slamming the ball of shadow in to the ground and hopefully into the Haunter. It knocked a haze of sticky shadow and dust into the air, making me cough. The result of the attack wasn't clear... and there was nothing but the quiet panting of Coco when I put the earpiece back in place.

As the bright early afternoon sun burned away the shadow, the scene slowly became clear. Coco was crouched in the grass not far from his target, wings spread across the ground since he couldn't hold himself up on his talons. But the Haunter... I held on to the railing of the stand, holding my breath and straining my eyes to see what might have happened to it.

The dust settled. There was a heavy duty battle headset on the ground, and the barest haze of the shape of the Haunter. It just started to finally fade in the bright sun when there was a flash of light- the other trainer had recalled her pokemon.

I didn't look away. Did... did we really do it? It wasn't until I heard the announcer call out the results- the defending ghost-type challenger has lost due to total party knock out, just seconds before the match was set to go in her favor due to the time running out.

The people in the stands cheered while my stand was lowered to the ground. I couldn't help letting out a whoop as soon as I got on the field, running over to congratulate my partner.

“We did it, Coco!” I hugged him gently, applying the mild anesthetic of a potion over a patch of missing feathers on his chest. The Haunter had used Thief to steal a Persim berry I had given him due to the challenger's use of moves that could cause confusion, and the theft had taken more than just the berry. “Come on, let's go shake hands, and I'll get you to a Center right away.” He hooted softly, still in a little pain. But pride had always been his weak spot. Coco was already on his feet as soon as I had taken the battle headset off of him and trying to straighten his ruffled feathers.

The defending challenger held her last pokemon's ball protectively when we met in the middle of the field. I could understand that protectiveness, especially after a match as tough as that.

“That was a good one,” she said, shaking my hand firmly. “I almost thought I had it.”

“You almost did.” I gave her a grin and she returned a grin that was only a little bit forced. “Walk you to the Center?” I asked, as maintenance workers hurried on to the field to pick up debris and get it ready for the next match.

“Sure. I want to know how you got your Lycanroc to use Stealth Rock without me noticing, that was wild.”

“Oh easy!” I loved talking about my strategies, winning or losing. I started to explain as we headed inside to the Center in the public part of the arena. “I just waited for a change in pokemon, that way it wouldn't be obvious until your next partner rotation...”


End file.
